Page 144 - Uppercrust Magazine Online Edition Volume 22

Chambers @ Even Rashtrapati Bhawan is in view of the
full-length windows of Chambers. In fact,
Taj Mahal Hotel all the landmarks of Lutyens’ Delhi are
within view from the windows.
Chambers is the ultimate gentleman’s
J63F+WG4, South Block, Mansingh club. There is an annual membership fee
Road Area, New Delhi, Delhi 110011 which assures you entry into a rarified world
Visit: www.tajhotels.com/en-in/ where every facility, every bottle of wine
thechambers and every flower that adorns the vases at
strategic points, is carefully chosen and is the
After a nail-biting period when the future of best of its kind. The décor places emphasis
the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel was uncertain, on comfort and understated grandeur. It is
owing to the lapse of the land lease, the hotel While each of them has state-of-the-art probably the last bastion of gentility, where
has had extensive upgradations, one area at features, the clear favourite is the one high net worth individuals go for discreet
a time. While UpperCrust visited Machan designed by Stefano Ricci. In addition, business meetings or for a quiet meal.
last quarter, the next to be refurbished was there is a bar, cigar lounge, a lounge that When UpperCrust went for lunch at
the prestigious Chambers – the members- can possibly double up as a party venue and the invitation of the hotel, there was a
only club – that most visitors to the rest of a restaurant serving the kind of food that well-known political family having a quiet
the hotel have never seen. would be difficult, if not impossible, to find lunch in one corner. No other guest cast
Built on two floors, there are luxe elsewhere in the NCR. The most premium covert glances and the family itself did not
meeting rooms, done up with carpeting that ingredients, cooked with a skill that has all once call loudly for service. One does not,
your feet literally sink into. Each meeting but been lost in this part of the world, put at Chambers. The service staff are at your
room has a different seating capacity, from together in Albero, from where you can see side before you need a refill of your plate
four to 12, depending on your requirement. Delhi's most important government offices. or your glass.

Tahir Sultan's heritage, he has travelled around Middle East food. Ghormeh Sabzi – an Iranian favourite
– has never featured on a menu in Delhi.
and North Africa literally countless times,
Catering eating in friends’ homes, grand restaurants, Neither has Barbecued Fish with Date Paste
kings’ palaces, shepherds’ tents and roadside
been seen or heard of hereabouts. Lamb Soured
eateries, which is more than one can say with Vinegar, Tahina Fish with Pomegranate,
Mob: 0 99719 44452 / about the average owner of a Middle Eastern Parsley and Onion, Lamb Majboos redolent
WhatsApp: 0 65977 72833 restaurant anywhere in our country. with tomato-garlic sauce with a touch of
Instagram: @tahirsultanfood There are several factors why Tahir Kuwaiti-style chilli paste, Pomfret Pulao served
Sultan’s catering is so sought after. First is the with harissa or Kuwaiti Fish Stew made with
Tahir Sultan is part Indian, part Kuwaiti. His sole in herb-filled tomato sauce with Omani
(late) father was from the prominent Al Essa sun-dried lemons. Tahir knows the cuisine
family of Kuwait. Tahir’s childhood memories intimately enough to impress the diplomats
of that country include large family picnics of of Middle East and North Africa, but he has
beachside fishing, boating, cooking out in the a trick or two up his sleeve: his twist to many
open and eating under the stars. That was the of the dishes, from mezze to main course – a
time when Kuwait, like much of the Middle hallmark of his cooking.
East, was crouching to leap forward into the Other noteworthy factors include high-
world of progress. But memories of the old quality reusable terracotta pots the food is
days, simpler times, are lost, never to return. It delivered in; made to Tahir’s exacting standards
is the honest flavour of the old days that is the by a Rajasthan-based NGO and the fact that
hallmark of Tahir’s food. Because of his Arab the food can be frozen – re-heats beautifully.

142 | UPPERCRUST | JUL-SEP 2021